To convert to a mineral substance; to impregnate with mineral material.
The term is applied to the processes of ore formation and also to the
process of fossilization. AGI
In flotation, one of the bubbles that rise from the pulp loaded with
particles of desired mineral. Pryor, 3
See:ore-forming fluid; geologic mineralizer.
See:ore-forming fluid; geologic mineralizer.
Land that is worth more for mining than for agriculture. The fact that the
land contains some gold or silver would not constitute it mineral land if
the gold and silver did not exist in sufficient quantities to pay to work.
Land not mineral in character is subject to entry and patent as a
homestead, however limited its value for agricultural purposes.
CF:stone land
The leasable minerals include oil, gas, sodium, potash, phosphate, coal,
and all minerals within acquired lands. Acquisition is by application for
a Government lease and permits to mine or explore after lease issuance.
SME, 1
See:mining lease
a. The presence of useful minerals or rocks in an area under examination.
Shanz
b. A concentration of a mineral (usually, but not necessarily, considered
in terms of some commodity, such as copper, barite, or gold) that is
considered to be valuable or that is of scientific or technical interest.
In rare instances (such as titanium in a rutile-bearing black sand), the
concentration of the commodity might be less than its average crustal
abundance. USGS, 1
A mineral that is present near an orebody and is related to the processes
of ore deposition. Guides help locate ore and may constitute targets for
ore search.
Any of several modifications of the fundamental Gibbs phase rule, taking
into account the number of degrees of freedom consumed by the fixing of
physical-chemical variables in the natural environment. The most famous
such rule, that of Goldschmidt, assumes that two variables (taken as
pressure and temperature) are fixed externally and that consequently the
number of phases (minerals) in a system (rock) will not generally exceed
the number of components. The Korzhinskii-Thompson version takes into
account the external imposition of chemical potentials of perfectly mobile
components, and thereby reduces the maximum expectable number of minerals
in a given rock to the number of inert components.
Syn:Goldschmidt's phase rule
Person who studies the formation, properties, use, occurrence,
composition, and classification of minerals; a geologist specialized in
mineralogy. Syn:oryctologist (obsolete)
See:ore microscopy
The study of minerals: formation, occurrence, use, properties,
composition, and classification. Adj. mineralogic, mineralogical.
Minerallike constituent of rocks which is not definite enough in chemical
composition or in physical properties to be considered a mineral.
Hydrocarbons, volcanic glass, and palagonite are classed as mineraloids.
Hess
See:mineral pigment
Mineral breakage along specific crystallographic planes in some specimens
due to twinning, exsolution lamellae, or chemical alteration.
See also:parting
A mineral material used to give color, opacity, or body to a paint,
stucco, plaster, or similar material. See also:ocher; sienna; umber.
The dry and wet crushing and grinding of ore or other mineral-bearing
products for the purpose of raising concentrate grade; removal of waste
and unwanted or deleterious substances from an otherwise useful product;
separation into distinct species of mixed minerals; chemical attack and
dissolution of selected values. Among the methods used are hand sorting
(including radioactivation and fluorescence); dense media separation;
screening and classification; gravity treatment with jigs, shaking tables,
Humphries spirals, Frue vanners, or sluices; magnetic separation at low or
high intensity; leach treatment, perhaps using pressure and heat; and
(universally) froth flotation. Also called beneficiation; ore dressing;
mineral dressing.
A region in which the source, age, and regional distribution of a complex
of minerals in a sediment are related. Schieferdecker
See:reserves
Any of a group of resinous, usually fossilized, mineral hydrocarbon
deposits; e.g., bitumen and asphalt. See also:resin